Big Time Skateboard Smooch
by Laurie Partridge
Summary: As prom season approaches, dateless Carlos finds love while skateboarding near an allegedly haunted house.
1. Chapter 1

"I had _the _dream again last night."

"What dream would that be James?"

"The one about Gustavo Rocque."

"The fat, obnoxious music producer in Los Angeles? Sounds like more of a nightmare than a dream."

"So not true, Kendall."

James Diamond stood in the Sherwood Supermarket parking lot with a faraway look in his eyes as he recounted his dream to his three best friends – Kendall, Logan and Carlos. Kendall was the only one of the four boys who was employed by the Sherwood family-owned supermarket. Mr. Sherwood, known affectionately by residents of Apple Valley, Minnesota as "The Old Man," hired Kendall personally.

"Gustavo Rocque, owner of Rocque Records, came to Minnesota in a fancy limo to offer me a recording contract," James said. "But he couldn't stand me and he offered Kendall the contract instead – right here in this parking lot."

"That's nuts, James," Kendall Knight said. He collected shopping carts from a cart corral and returned them to the front of the store. "Like some nine-million dollar limo with a big-shot music producer in it is going to pull up at this supermarket and offer me a recording contract. I don't even sing. In fact none of us sing except you."

"I tried explaining that to Gustavo in my dream," James said. He, Logan and Carlos tagged along behind Kendall. "But Gustavo wanted you and only you."

"We're high school hockey players – proud AVHS Eagles," Kendall said. "My future is playing professional hockey with the Minnesota Wild." Tall and slender, Kendall is a natural athlete. He made the Minnesota State Golden Gopher Hockey Team as a center in his sophomore year.

"And my dream is to be a doctor," Logan Mitchell said. Logan was super smart, never earning anything less than an A on his report card since the third grade. "I haven't made up my mind if I want to work at the Mayo Clinic or work in an impoverished community or country. What about you, Carlos? What do you want to do with your life?"

"Dunno." Carlos Garcia shrugged his shoulders. He fidgeted with his black hockey helmet which he carried with him everywhere all year long. "I guess I could go into law enforcement like my Dad. I'm supposed to talk to my guidance counselor next week about colleges and stuff. My Dad would like it if I went to college."

"Are you sure your guidance counselor wants to talk to you about your future, Carlos?" Kendall asked. "Maybe he wants to talk to you about mooning that poor little exchange student, Laura Bridger."

"That was an accident!" Carlos' dark eyes flashed. "Why doesn't anybody believe me?" Mr. Jenner made me run laps because I was late to his stupid gym class. I was alone in the boys' locker room when I took my shower so I didn't bother wrapping a towel around myself. I got to my locker, started to get dressed and I heard a female voice behind e ask where she could find somebody named Lou."

Logan copped a superior attitude. "Laura was looking for the restroom, Genius. A 'loo' is the British term for restroom."

"I know that – _now_." Carlos glared at Logan. "Principal Wright still gave me a lecture and a week's detention."

"I feel kind of bad about that," Logan said. "Missy O'Brien set Laura up to get back at us for turning the sprinkler on her and the other girls on the field hockey team."

"Not bad enough to not go out with Laura." Carlos pushed Logan.

"If found Laura's wit and her accent to be quite refreshing." Logan gave Carlos a smug grin.

"You didn't even give me a chance to ask her out!"

Logan sniggered. "You couldn't even look Laura in the eyes after the locker room incident. And even if you did manage to ask her out, you would have to stand on your tiptoes to kiss her. She's three inches taller than you, Shrimp."

"I can't help being short," Carlos said. "If she's three inches taller than me, then Laura is an inch taller than you."

"Wrong. We are the same height. I know 'cause we kissed."

"Oh, it's on!" Carlos strapped his hockey helmet under his chin and knocked Logan to the ground. The two boys rolled around on the ground, fighting each other.

"You gonna do something about them, Kendall?" James pulled his lucky comb from his jacket pocket and ran it through his brown hair. Taller and thinner than Kendall, James was known as "The Face" of Apple Valley High School. Girls fell all over themselves for the opportunity to go out with him.

Kendall smirked. "Yeah, watch." He adjusted his ski cap over his blond hair and aimed a shopping cart towards the battling boys. The cart hit Carlos square in the back. The Hispanic boy did not miss a beat. He kept pummeling Logan.

"Man!" Kendall exclaimed. "I can't believe that didn't work."


	2. Chapter 2

"I have an idea." James put his lucky comb back in his jacket pocket. He spoke loudly – a little too loudly because customers in the supermarket parking lot were giving him odd stares. "In my dream about Gustavo Rocque we all had hot girlfriends. I dated this gorgeous Hollywood starlet named Amber."

"I bet she was a blonde." Kendall spoke as loudly as James. He returned shopping carts to the front of the store.

"Actually, she was a brunette," James said. "But you dated a hot model named Sabrina. She was a blonde."

"I'm beginning to like your dream, James." Kendall grinned as he put his arm around James' shoulder. "Tell me more."

"Logan scored a date with Phoebe Nachee, the hot math genius he's always talking about." James continued speaking loudly, ignoring the odd stares from customers.

The fighting stopped. Logan's eyes grew wide as he stared up at James and Kendall. "I had a date with Phoebe Nachee? _The_ Phoebe Nachee?"

"Would I lie to you?" James asked, returning to his normal voice. He flashed his one-hundred-watt smile as he stared down at Logan.

Logan jumped up and dusted himself off. "I've practically memorized her book. I sure would love to discuss the Pythagorean Theorem with her."

Carlos stood up. "Tell me about my hot girlfriend, James. What was her name? Did she love skateboarding and playing hockey and talking about guy stuff? And on a scale of one-to-ten, ten being the hottest, how hot was she?"

"Ooh." James made a face.

"It's okay if she's not the greatest skateboarder."

"It's not that, Carlos," James said. "I might have been slightly hasty in saying we _all_ had hot girlfriends."

"What are you saying, James?" Carlos asked. He looked hurt. "Was my girlfriend ugly or something?"

"She definitely wasn't ugly," James said.

"Then what was wrong with her?"

"She didn't exist. Okay?"

"What?"

"You didn't have a girlfriend, Carlos. Nobody would go out with you."

"What!" Carlos looked incredulous. "I couldn't even get a date _in your dream_?" He threw his hands up in defeat. "Man! I might as well tell my guidance counselor I want to be a monk for all the luck I have with finding a girlfriend!"

"Hey, I'm sorry. Okay?"

"Chill out." Logan stepped between James and Carlos. James had struck a nerve with Carlos, and Logan hadn't helped matters by bringing up Laura Bridger.

"Hey, Buddy." Logan put his arm around Carlos' shoulder. "Don't make any rash career moves yet. There's a girl out there for you."

"Easy for you to say," Carlos said. "You and Kendall and James have dates for Prom."

"Well I wouldn't have a date for Prom if it weren't for James. After Laura went back to England, he introduced me to Camille." Logan snapped his fingers. "That's it!"

"What's it?" Kendall asked.

"Kendall, how did you meet Jo?" Logan asked.

"In my biology class," Kendall said. "Mr. Hollister made us lab partners."

"Bad example," Logan said.

"What are you getting at, Logan?" Kendall asked.

"Out of the four of us, who knows the most girls?" Logan asked.

"Me," James said.

"And out of the four of us, who keeps a little black book with, er, shall we say the hottest prospects at Apple Valley High?" Logan asked.

"Me, again," James said. "But I don't see –"

. Kendall grinned. "Where there's a little black book full of hot prospects is a girl for Carlos."

"Oh, no!" James exclaimed. "No can do. That book is sacred."

"You mean James will fix me up with a totally hot date?" Carlos practically beamed at this possibility.

"Not just a date, Carlos," Kendall said. "A date for Prom."


	3. Chapter 3

The four boys met at Kendall's house on Saturday. They lounged on the living room sofa, eating Mrs. Knight's homemade cookies.

"These are the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever tasted," Logan said. He politely helped himself to a second cookie, and slapped Carlos' hand.

"Carlos! Get your fat hand out of the way!"

Carlos stuck his tongue out at Logan as he stuffed a cookie into his mouth.

"Gross!" Logan said.

"Double gross!" James said.

"Thanks Mom," Kendall said.

"You're welcome," Mrs. Knight said. "It's so kind of you boys to find Carlos a date for Prom." Mrs. Knight ruffled Carlos' hair. "He's such a sweet boy, and I wouldn't want to see him sitting at home alone with his hockey helmet on Prom night."

"Neither would we, Mom," Kendall said.

"Thanks Mrs. Knight." Carlos mumbled between bites of cookie.

"Katie, don't bother your brother and his friends."

Mrs. Knight left the living room.

"Oh, please." Katie Knight stared at her older brother and his three friends. She tapped her foot. "Carlos is a 'Class A' fruitcake. Good luck with finding him a girlfriend."

"Katie's just kidding." Kendall glared at Katie. "Right, Katie?"

Katie grabbed a cookie. "All the girls in my class think Carlos is crazy, as in loony, nutty, and just plain off his rocker."

"Girls think I'm crazy?" Carlos asked.

"What do a bunch of ten-year-old girls know?" Kendall asked. He jumped up from the sofa and pushed Katie toward the family room. "Don't you have a _Tiger Beat_ to read or some Nickelodeon show to watch?"

"No. I'm good." Katie sat down in a chair across from the boys. "Learning what girl would be stupid enough to go out with Carlos is _way_ more interesting."

"I don't date stupid girls," Carlos said.

"You don't date _any_ girls," Katie said.

"That's about to change," Logan said. "Right, James?"

James licked his fingers as he finished a cookie. "Uh, yeah, I guess."

"You guess?" Kendall slapped James. "James! You were supposed to find a chick for Carlos from your little black book."

James jumped up from the sofa. "First, don't muss my hair. I worked hard on making it look this good. Second, I tried, guys. I _really_ tried." James glanced at Carlos with a look of pity.

"You promised me a totally hot date with Bergitte Larsen," Carlos said.

"Bergitte Larsen? The _senior_?" James asked. "Man, are you dreaming Carlos! You're screwier than Katie's friends think you are. Bergitte doesn't give me the time of day. What makes you think she would be interested in you?"

Carlos stood up. "I have charm," he said. "And personality.

James pulled a piece of notebook paper from his pocket and smoothed it out. "I wasn't going to do this, Carlos. But do you really want to know what one of the girls said about you? I quote, 'Carlos Garcia? Are you crazy? Carlos is nuts! I mean, does he ever take that helmet off of his head? I bet he even wears it in the shower.' Unquote."

"I don't wear my helmet in the shower!" Carlos strapped his hockey helmet under his chin. He gave his friends a hang dog look as he walked toward the front door.

"It's okay, guys. Thanks for trying, James. I don't really want to go to Prom anyway."

"Hold up, Carlos!" Kendall shouted. He stared at James. "James, do you mean to tell me that there isn't one girl in the junior class who is listed in your black book that would go to Prom with Carlos?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"What about Jennie Tinkler?" Logan asked.

"Dating Buddy Simms," James said.

"Really, it's okay," Carlos said. "I'm going to go perfect a crazy skateboarding stunt up at Harriman Hill."

Logan raced to the front door. But Carlos had already shut the door behind him.

"There goes one dejected guy," Logan said.

"I told you Carlos was a hopeless case," Katie said.

"We are horrible matchmakers," Kendall said.


	4. Chapter 4

If you looked in the dictionary under the term "haunted house" you would find a picture of the old Harriman place. The decrepit one hundred year old Victorian style home loomed eerily above 30th Avenue, harboring fifteen or sixteen ghosts, all of them long-deceased members of the Percival Harriman family, according to Apple Valley legend.

Carlos approached the home warily. He was a firm believer in ghosts, even though he had never seen one. He did not care to run into any dead Harrimans today – or ever. He made sure he was never near the Harriman home after dark because, as legend had it, the ghosts grinned back at you if you peered into the downstairs windows of the home. Carlos had never counted the downstairs windows in the house, but he figured there was one for every dead Harriman.

Carlos' interest in the home was purely for skateboarding purposes. During the winter, the home was a popular place for sled riding. Carlos loved to sled down the steep driveway (which resembled a mountain) leading to the entrance of the Harriman home. He was always careful not slide headlong into traffic on 30th Avenue. He may be crazy (his three friends and every girl in Apple Valley seemed to think so), but he wasn't stupid.

Carlos strapped his hockey helmet under his chin and tapped the top of it twice for good look. He would need it. He started down the driveway slowly, picking up speed as the wheels of his skateboard bumped over the gravel. He hit a ridge half way down the driveway which gave him enough air to practice ollies and maybe even a 180 degree twist. He crashed every time he tried the tricks, and this time was no different. He lay face up on the grass next to driveway.

The bright sunlight (or an angel's halo, lest he be dead) blinded Carlos as he felt around for his skateboard. A shadow appeared over him in the form of a skateboarder.

"Carlos Garcia, that's not a half-bad ollie. But if you want to see how it's really done, watch me!"

Oh, great! He was surely dead and his first taste of heaven was an angel with an attitude. She – the voice was female - not only knew his name but was not very complimentary about his skateboarding skills.

"Is this heaven?" Carlos asked. "Or are you from the _other _place?"

"Neither. I'm Suzie Harriman. You know, from your history class."

She dashed away and Carlos groaned. Suzie! She sat directly behind him in his history class, and bore a hole in his back with her constant staring. What did she find so fascinating anyway? One time Carlos had turned in his seat to pass Suzie a copy of a test on the American Revolution, and her face turned bright read. He had caught her staring at him again.

Suzie was okay in the looks department – long blonde hair which she wore in braids and a face full of freckles – but nothing to write home about. Her family lived in a Colonial style home in a cul de sac of a new housing development, but Carlos never made any special attempt to go by her home except on the school bus. He didn't have any choice: the bus made a stop at the end of her street.

No girl, and especially not Suzie, was going to show him up. Carlos grabbed his skateboard and climbed back up the driveway. Suzie sailed by him on her skateboard, her braids flying out from her yellow skateboard helmet. Carlos' jaw dropped as she performed a near-perfect ollie. Then she crashed.

Carlos raced to the side of the hill and looked down at Suzie. He didn't like her. But he was too much of a gentleman to make sure she wasn't hurt.

"You okay?"

Suzie gave him the thumbs up sign. Carlos continued up the driveway, more determined than ever to hone his ollie. Carlos placed his skateboard on the ground and closed his eyes. He imagined doing the perfect ollie, a trick he learned while watching the skiers, bobsledders and lugers in the Olympics. Right before their runs, they closed their eyes and imagined going down the ski slope or the ice track successfully.

Carlos opened his eyes and stepped on his skateboard. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a figure step out of the mist. He screamed, slipped off of his skateboard and fell hard on his behind.

"Boo!" The figure laughed.

"Suzie! Don't do that!"

"What did you think? My great, great, great grandfather was walking out of his house to say hello?"

"That's not funny." Carlos said angrily. He got up from the ground, wiping gravel from his behind.

"It's hilarious," Suzie said. "Now step aside, amateur, and let a pro show you how it's done."

Suzie took off. Carlos slapped his skateboard on the ground and quickly followed her. The two of them hit the ridge simultaneously, both of them performing an Ollie, and they crashed. Carlos and Suzie lay face up in the grass, staring up at the sun.

"What a rush!"

"It was fun, wasn't it?" Suzie asked. "I think I can make you a pretty good skateboarder, Carlos Garcia. You've got potential."

Carlos sat up. "Let me get this straight: _You're_ going to teach me to skateboard? A _girl_?"

"Don't let my gender get in the way of your big ego, Carlos." Suzie glared at him.

"Oh, believe me, it won't."

Suzie threw Carlos for a loop: she kissed him on the cheek and ran back up the driveway.


	5. Chapter 5

"You have a goofy look on your face, Carlos."

Suzie stood over Carlos, who sat on the grass. He touched his cheek gingerly.

"You caught me off guard with that kiss," If he were still in middle school, he would have run home and vigorously washed his cheek until the cooties were gone. If he were in middle school, he wouldn't have let any girl near enough to kiss him.

"Oh, that." Suzie laughed. "Research."

"Come again?" Carlos reached for his skateboard and stood up.

"Research." Suzie shrugged her shoulders. "I've never kissed a boy before, and I was curious. So I kissed you." She stared at him. "You're not mad, are you?"

"No. I don't know how I feel. I guess I'm confused."

"I can fix that." Suzie pulled Carlos toward her and they embraced. "If you don't like it, you are free to run away."

Carlos did like it, even though his mind was screaming for him to run away and don't look back. After all, this was Suzie Harriman. He didn't like the creepy way Suzie stared at him or her lofty attitude about skateboarding. Imagine calling him an amateur! Well, he'd show her.

He kissed Suzie a second time, right smack on the lips. Yeah, he'd show her alright – if he could only stop kissing her.

"What do we do now?" Suzie asked when the two of them came up for air.

"I dunno. Skateboard, I guess, on the condition you stop calling me an amateur."

"No, Dummy. Ask her to prom!"

James Diamond stood on the driveway, looking down at them with his Cheshire cat grin.

"James!" Carlos ran after him. He caught up with James half way up the driveway. "What're you doing here?"

"I came to apologize. I was kind of rude at Kendall's house."

"Kind of?"

"Okay. A lot rude." He glanced down at Suzie, who was still standing in the grass with a dopey look on her face. "But I see you've rebounded rather nicely."

"We're making a pact right now," Carlos said. "You tell _no one_ about Suzie kissing me." He grabbed James' tee shirt for emphasis. "You got me? _No one_."

"Okay! Okay!" James removed Carlos' hand from his tee shirt. "Do you mind? It's my favorite tee."

"Sorry."

"You could do a lot worse than Suzie for a prom date."

"I guess," Carlos said. "But I gotta get used to Suzie being a _girl_, you know? When I woke up this morning she was still 'Old Suzie,' the pest in my history class."

James put his arm around Carlos' shoulder. "Dude, that's how the whole mess starts. When the pest you've hated since middle school becomes a girl, you're sunk."

"You hooked Logan up with Camille," Carlos said. "You think you can help me find a way to ask Suzie to prom?"

"Just ask her: 'Suzie, will you do me the honor of going to prom with me?'"

"That's all?" Carlos asked. "Prom is special. I figured I'd have to buy a whole bunch of flowers or rent a prop plane and spell out the invitation in the air."

"You're not marrying her, Dude," James said. "In your case, however, maybe we can work a skateboarding maneuver into a prom invitation."


	6. Chapter 6

"Just do it like we practiced."

"But what if Suzie says no?"

James put his arm around Carlos' shoulder. "Not going to happen, mon ami." James was taking French this semester and he liked showing off by speaking the language whenever he had the chance. "She'll jump at the chance to go to Prom with you. Suzie digs you – or, at least, she digs teaching you how to skateboard."

"I already knew how to skateboard before I met Suzie up at Harriman Hill," Carlos said.

"Sure." James winked. "But think of those fringe benefits."

Carlos glared at James. "I told you to keep your mouth shut about Suzie and me kissing."

"Dude, it's just the two of us here. No harm. No fowl." He patted Carlos on the back. "Now go and conquer."

As Carlos approached Harriman Hill Suzie waved to him from the top of the driveway. Carlos waved back. But by the time he climbed the driveway to join her, Suzie had vanished.

Carlos cautiously peered around the side of the house where he had seen her disappear, certain she was playing an elaborate joke on him. But Suzie was not there. He shuddered, despite the warm May morning. Come to think of it, there was something not right about Suzie's clothes. The girl he had seen was wearing an old fashioned nineteenth century dress with her blond hair all done up in curls on the top of her head. Get a grip, Carlos, he told himself. This house has enough of a creep factor without adding ghostly activity to it.

"Hey."

Carlos nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Don't do that!"

"Do what?"

"Sneak up on me like that." Carlos took a long look at Suzie. "What happened to your hair? You weren't wearing braids a few minutes ago. And where is the dress you were wearing?"

"I always wear my hair in braids, Carlos. You know that. And I wouldn't wear a dress to skateboard anymore than you would wear your good Sunday suit to skateboard."

"No. No, when I first got here, you were standing up here by the house. You waved at me. You were wearing a long, red dress and you're hair was all up, you know, on the top of your head." Carlos tapped the top of his hockey helmet for emphasis.

"Carlos, I don't know what game you're playing," Suzie said. "But stop it. Okay? You're freaking me out." Suzie put her skateboard on the ground. "Now let's practice some ollies."

"I'm not crazy, Suzie. I know what I saw."

Suzie turned pale. "Carlos, I just got here. I don't know who you saw. But it wasn't me."

Carlos' eyes grew wide. "It was a ghost!" His skateboard slipped out of his hands and crashed on the gravel driveway. "I saw the ghost of one of your ancestors!"

"You did not."

"Did too." Carlos shuddered as he thrust his arm in the air. "Look. The hairs on my arm are standing up. I'm scaring myself just thinking about it."

"You're full of it, Carlos." Suzie bent down and picked up Carlos' skateboard. She handed it to him. "Now let's practice some ollies – unless you're too scared after seeing whatever it is you saw."

"I'm not scared." Carlos mustered all the courage he could.

"Good."

Suzie glanced at the underside of Carlos' skateboard.

"What's that scribbling there?"

"Scribbling where?"

Suzie pointed to the underside of his skateboard.

"That scribbling. It looks like you wrote something with magic marker."

"Oh! I almost forgot." Carlos blushed. "My skateboard is broken. I thought maybe you could look at it and tell me what's wrong with it."

Suzie raised an eyebrow as she looked at Carlos' skateboard. "If it's broken, Carlos, why are you asking me to fix it? You're the expert skateboard repairer." She read the message on the bottom of the skateboard: _Would you go to Prom with me, Suzie?_

She looked at Carlos, tears in her eyes. "Prom?" she asked. "But it's only two weeks away. I don't even have a dress. And you'll need a tux. And, and I don't even know if we can still get tickets."

"But you'll go with me?" Carlos looked hopeful.

"Yes!" Suzie dropped the skateboard on Carlos' foot. Carlos grimaced. But Suzie's hug and kiss more than made up for it.

Carlos won a Prom date, a girlfriend, and a fellow skateboarder and ghost hunter. The last is a story for another time.


End file.
